From a seat in the rear of the room, observe your students and take notes on what they are doing while the teacher is presenting in the front of the room, while they are supposed to be taking notes, doing seatwork, and/or when they are working in the lab. Look closely at each student for a range of behaviors, and resist the temptation on only see what you expect. Note especially what is happening furthest from the teacher. What strategies are used by your CT to encourage students to attend and engage? Watch carefully how your CT moves around the room.
How important is student engagement to your view of how you will teach? What strategies will you employ to encourage student engagement?
Observation:
As I sat in the back of the room during my CT's biology CP1 class, there were many things I noticed that a normal teacher usually wouldn't be able to see from the front of the room. Two students, a boy and a girl went back and forth poking each other whenever the teacher would turn her back to the class during the lesson, then when she would turn back around they would immediately stop. Eventually the girl ended up slapping the boy because he poked her to hard and my CT heard the slap and told them to stop fooling around, they didn't poke each other the rest of the class. Other students would twirl their pens, look at the scenery outside of the classroom windows (possibly the group of birds that had congregated on the baseball field), and have side conversations during my CT's lesson. By constantly moving around the room my CT made it hard for students to be distracted by other things. I feel that my CT was almost "swift" in her movements because she would float around the room while she was talking, always engaging her students, always asking questions, always keeping them interested and trying her hardest to keep them from being distracted. However, it is hard to be "everywhere at once" with a class of 30 students, so by tapping/leaning on their desk and stopping a sentence midway through and saying, "We'll go on when your ready" to talkative students kept them attentive.
Reflection:
I have come to the understanding that it is EXTREMELY hard to keep every single students attentive, intrigued, and on task during any given lesson. With that being said, I also understand that it is my job as an educator to do my best to keep as many students on task as humanly possible. I heavily support Kounins theory of "With-It-Ness" and by implementing his teaching strategies I believe that I can keep students intrigued in my lesson without losing time by yelling at every single disruption in the classroom. I believe that student engagement is one of the most important things when it comes to high levels of student achievement. They go hand-in-hand. I intend to employ numerous, different types of engagement so I can try and reach every student possible. From sarcasm to seriousness and everything in between, I know that positive reinforcement, extrinsic/intrinsic motivation, and a dedication to my students will help me in my future success as a teacher.
How important is student engagement to your view of how you will teach? What strategies will you employ to encourage student engagement?
Observation:
As I sat in the back of the room during my CT's biology CP1 class, there were many things I noticed that a normal teacher usually wouldn't be able to see from the front of the room. Two students, a boy and a girl went back and forth poking each other whenever the teacher would turn her back to the class during the lesson, then when she would turn back around they would immediately stop. Eventually the girl ended up slapping the boy because he poked her to hard and my CT heard the slap and told them to stop fooling around, they didn't poke each other the rest of the class. Other students would twirl their pens, look at the scenery outside of the classroom windows (possibly the group of birds that had congregated on the baseball field), and have side conversations during my CT's lesson. By constantly moving around the room my CT made it hard for students to be distracted by other things. I feel that my CT was almost "swift" in her movements because she would float around the room while she was talking, always engaging her students, always asking questions, always keeping them interested and trying her hardest to keep them from being distracted. However, it is hard to be "everywhere at once" with a class of 30 students, so by tapping/leaning on their desk and stopping a sentence midway through and saying, "We'll go on when your ready" to talkative students kept them attentive.
Reflection:
I have come to the understanding that it is EXTREMELY hard to keep every single students attentive, intrigued, and on task during any given lesson. With that being said, I also understand that it is my job as an educator to do my best to keep as many students on task as humanly possible. I heavily support Kounins theory of "With-It-Ness" and by implementing his teaching strategies I believe that I can keep students intrigued in my lesson without losing time by yelling at every single disruption in the classroom. I believe that student engagement is one of the most important things when it comes to high levels of student achievement. They go hand-in-hand. I intend to employ numerous, different types of engagement so I can try and reach every student possible. From sarcasm to seriousness and everything in between, I know that positive reinforcement, extrinsic/intrinsic motivation, and a dedication to my students will help me in my future success as a teacher.